There are too many non-locals studying in Hong Kong, but the place is too small, so the dormitories of Hong Kong schools are generally provided for undergraduates and MPhil/PhD. For masters, as far as I know, only Hong Kong Baptist University and Hong Kong Institute of Education will provide accommodation for masters (However, the number of places is limited and expensive), other universities generally do not provide dormitories for masters, and students need to rent their own rooms.
Then how to rent, who to rent, and where to rent have become issues that must be considered. This article mainly tells you how to rent in Hong Kong.
The ranking of rental prices in Hong Kong: Tang Building < Village House < Western Building < Juyuan. Hong Kong’s money-saving rental housing (recommended): share a two-bedroom and one-bedroom in a regular community with classmates, and if it is closer to the school, two people live in a single room (my choice in the past), with bunk beds, and one person per month is 3,500 HK$.
How to save money on renting in Hong Kong ？ Please view below some tips.
1.Best time to rent
When the school starts in September, most of the students will choose to go to Hong Kong to look for a house in person in August. First, the room they see is more assured. After all, there is a difference between the buyer’s show and the seller’s show;
Second, most houses in Hong Kong are signed for one year. August is the school season, and most of the houses will be released in August.
However, as studying in Hong Kong is getting hotter year by year, there are more and more international students coming to Hong Kong, and more and more people are in need of renting a house.
Many students will choose to come to Hong Kong to see a house in May/June. Yes, but they have to pay two or three months of rent, otherwise the landlord will not be able to leave a room for you for a few months.
I personally suggest that the best time to visit Hong Kong is July-August, but before that, you should have learned about it in detail on the Internet. There are at least a few options, which can be directly viewed after arriving in Hong Kong.
2.Common rental locations
Common rental locations in major schools
Hong Kong university: Sai Ying Pun / Kennedy Town / Tai Kok Tsui / Olympic Games / Sheung Wan
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology: Hang Hau / Tai Po Tsai / Po Lam
The Chinese University of Hong Kong: Tai Po/Tai Wo/Fanling/Shatin
City University of Hong Kong/Hong Kong Baptist University: Prince Edward / Mong Kok West / Tai Kok Tsui / Olympic Games / Shatin
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University: Whampoa / Hong Kong / Mong Kok East / Prince Edward / Mong Kok West / Da Kok Tsui / Olympics
The Education University of Hong Kong: Shatin/Dapu/Taihe
Lingnan University of Hong Kong: Siu Hong / Yuen Long
Common room types:
Tanglou: Detached building without elevator. The buildings are relatively old, generally in the old city, with a large area and cheap rent.
Village house: A house built by villagers (non-rural). 3 to 4 floors, no elevator, large area, and even a terrace, but there are many insects and mosquitoes, far from the subway station.
Mansion: The detached house has an elevator. The building is older, in the old city, the price is cheap, and the usable area is lower.
Juyuan: The community has an elevator but no clubhouse. The area is large, the price is relatively cheap, the environment is very good, there is no clubhouse, it is generally 10 minutes away from the subway station, and some require a minibus transfer of 2 to 3 HK$. )
Price sort: Tang Building＜Village House＜Western Building＜Juyuan
Accommodation fee:
Luxury: Sea view room arrangement, if one person has a room, 15000 HK$. a month can not only enjoy the sea view, but also get the outdoor swimming pool, gym, and free shuttle bus with one click.
Economical: Within 10 minutes walking to the school and subway station, there is an elevator, 24-hour security, complete decoration, complete furniture, public bathroom and kitchen, water and electricity grid fees (200 HK$. / month) are shared by roommates.
The three-bedroom, one-bedroom or two-bedroom, one-bedroom (30 square meters) with two pay two, living in a small single room (6 square meters), is 7,000 HK$. / month.
Money-saving (recommended): I share two rooms and one living room in a regular community with my classmates. The one closer to the school. Two people live in a single room (my choice in the past), with bunk beds, and one person per month is 3,500 HK$.
Saving type: Sharing a village house with two students, that is, a farmer’s house, is generally very remote, the transportation is very inconvenient, and there is no security. Cheap is cheap. It is only 1,500 Hong Kong dollars per person a month, but it is not very safe. I do not recommend it.
Finanly total:
Luxury: 150,000 RMB/year
Economical: 70,000 RMB/year
Money-saving type: 35,000 RMB/year
How to choose a room ?
Look out for public housing, Generally, buildings or buildings named after [a building] [a village] [a garden] are public housing or HOS housing. Public housing cannot be subletted. of. Generally, the real estate that can be rented is mainly based on the tenement house/western house/village house I mentioned above.
Pay attention to see if it is a haunted house (the haunted house network has to be checked): A haunted house in Hong Kong generally refers to a house where someone has died.
If you see a house with very good conditions in all aspects, but the price is much lower than the market price, basically the haunted house has not run away.
If you mind, remember to avoid it carefully and ask before viewing the room! If you don’t mind, the haunted house is quite cost-effective, and some students go to the haunted house to rent it, after all, it is cheap.
Calculate the distance: Some intermediaries or rental websites will mark the school as a few hundred meters, or walk for ten minutes, and take the subway for half an hour. When you actually sign the contract, you will find out that the straight-line distance is a few hundred meters, and the subway is half an hour. It takes half an hour to stand.
Therefore, when you are interested in the environment of the house, you must calculate how long it takes to get from the house to the school. Here we recommend the MTR route encyclopedia on the MTR official website. Shop wait.
Other reference items (mainly based on personal habits): Is it soundproof or not? Is the floor suitable? Is there a park around for a walk? Is it inconvenient for shopping? It is inconvenient to travel. How is the ventilation? Is there any smell around? Is there a balcony? and many more.
Before renting a house, make sure that the house has no furniture, and what kind of furniture is there, and some houses are unfurnished. Ask before renting.
Direct rent from the owner: If you can rent the house directly from the owner, then of course the agency fee for half a month’s rent will be waived, but the owner is not like the rental agency that can be seen all over the street, but some owners will also come through Hong Kong to help Publish housing information, everyone can pay attention. Whether you are renting through an intermediary or through the owner, it is very important to sign a contract. Even if you rent through the owner, you must sign a rental contract. Usually, the lease date, rent price, deposit payment status, and who will bear the cost if the house facilities need to be repaired are indicated on the contract. If you are an old Hong Kong drifter, your Cantonese is good enough, and you have enough experience in renting a house, it is a good way to save money by signing a contract with the owner directly.
Subletting from others:Subletting from a senior or a friend is also a very common way of renting a house. If a senior or senior signs a house in the first year, and wants to renew the lease in the second year, but other roommates want to move out, this time will be free. It is also relatively safe and reliable to find someone to share the room with. Because renting in Hong Kong is a one-year death contract and a one-year life contract, if both the landlord and the tenant are willing to renew the lease, it will not only save the trouble of moving in the middle, but also do not need to pay the intermediary fee, and the rent will remain the same as last year, the only thing to pay attention to It is best to find an intermediary to sign a new contract, although it is a renewal, but after all, the roommate has changed, and the tenant’s name must be changed in the contract, so that whether it is a senior or a new friend, the interests of both parties are the same. Guaranteed. In short, for renting a house, no matter how familiar the relationship is, it still needs to be guaranteed by a paper contract. After all, in Hong Kong, a region with a high legal system, relevant legal awareness is still necessary.
If you don’t have furniture, you can contact the previous tenants or ask BBS to find seniors and seniors, which is cheap; you can also go to the nearby IKEA to buy one.